Lifeboat Foundation

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German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg first introduced his uncertainty principle in a 1925 paper. It’s special because it remains intact no matter how good our experimental methods get; this isn’t a lack of precision in measurement. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, or how sophisticated your equipment, is you can’t think your way past it. It’s a fact of nature.

Legendary physicist and master bongo player Richard Feynman put it like this: “The uncertainty principle ‘protects’ quantum mechanics. Heisenberg recognized that if it were possible to measure both the momentum and the position simultaneously with greater accuracy, quantum mechanics would collapse. So he proposed that must be impossible.”

Continue reading “Our Existence Always Contains Some Uncertainty. This Physics Principle Explains Why” »

Many of us will be familiar with feelings of sluggishness and lethargy in the afternoon, but for those with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the problem is more severe.

Fortunately, researchers have now identified a drug that offers a good chance of helping. And no, it doesn’t come in espresso form.

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) for people who have OSA can severely affect daily life. It means having overwhelming urges to sleep at inappropriate times – while driving or eating, for example – and often struggle to complete simple tasks.

The demo is clever, questionably real, and prompts a lot of questions about how this device will actually work.

Buzz has been building around the secretive tech startup Humane for over a year, and now the company is finally offering a look at what it’s been building. At TED last month, Humane co-founder Imran Chaudhri gave a demonstration of the AI-powered wearable the company is building as a replacement for smartphones. Bits of the video leaked online after the event, but the full video is now available to watch.

The device appears to be a small black puck that slips into your breast pocket, with a camera, projector, and speaker sticking out the top. Throughout the 13-minute presentation, Chaudhri walks through a handful of use cases for Humane’s gadget: * The device rings when Chaudhri receives a phone call. He holds his hand up, and the device projects the caller’s name along with icons to answer or ignore the call. He then has a brief conversation. (Around 1:48 in the video) * He presses and holds one finger on the device, then asks a question about where he can buy a gift. The device responds with the name of a shopping district. (Around 6:20) * He taps two fingers on the device, says a sentence, and the device translates the sentence into another language, stating it back using an AI-generated clone of his voice. (Around 6:55) * He presses and holds one finger on the device, says, “Catch me up,” and it reads out a summary of recent emails, calendar events, and messages. (At 9:45) * He holds a chocolate bar in front of the device, then presses and holds one finger on the device while asking, “Can I eat this?” The device recommends he does not because of a food allergy he has. He presses down one finger again and tells the device he’s ignoring its advice. (Around 10:55)

Continue reading “Is buzzy startup Humane’s big idea a wearable camera?” »

and future products will look more appetizing and taste better.

Watch these 3D-printed foods gradually change from a mess to cheesecake.

After eight tries, a team of mechanical engineers from Columbia University successfully 3D printed a cooked slice of cheesecake from seven ingredients.

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Researchers are working on edible computer chips to control robots that can operate inside the human body to precisely deliver drugs before safely being digested.

By Matthew Sparkes

Continue reading “Edible computer chips could control digestible drug-delivery robots” »

A team of researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology recently unveiled what is being billed as the world’s first fully rechargeable, edible battery. As detailed in a paper published with Advanced Materials, the new device utilizes riboflavin (often found in shiitake mushrooms) as its anode and quercetin (seen in capers) as the cathode. Activated charcoal amplified the electrical conductivity alongside a water-based electrolyte. Nori seaweed—most often seen in sushi—served as the short circuit prevention separator, while beeswax-encased electrodes and food-grade gold foil contacts also contributed to the design.

The battery relies on chemical components often found in shiitake mushrooms, capers, and seaweed—and may come in handy for children’s toys.

When London-based student Lewis Hornby noticed that his dementia-afflicted grandmother was having trouble staying hydrated, he came up with Jelly Drops, bite-sized pods of edible water made with gelling agents and electrolytes.

For more than a century, biologists have wondered what the earliest animals were like when they first arose in the ancient oceans more than half a billion years ago.

Searching among today’s most primitive-looking animals for the earliest branch of the animal tree of life, scientists gradually narrowed the possibilities down to two groups: sponges, which spend their entire adult lives in one spot, filtering food from seawater; and comb jellies, voracious predators that oar their way through the world’s oceans in search of food.

In a new study published this week in the journal Nature, researchers use a novel approach based on chromosome structure to come up with a definitive answer: Comb jellies, or ctenophores (pronounced teen’-a-fores), were the first lineage to branch off from the animal tree. Sponges were next, followed by the diversification of all other animals, including the lineage leading to humans.

Lions mane the mushroom can actually stop alzheimers and dementia by boosting nerve growth 😗😁

Researchers from The University of Queensland have discovered the active compound from an edible mushroom that boosts nerve growth and enhances memory.

Professor Frederic Meunier from the Queensland Brain Institute said the team had identified new active compounds from the mushroom, Hericium erinaceus.

Continue reading “Mushrooms magnify memory” »